3 Abdul in Australia.
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” – Dr. Seuss
We called ourselves “3 Abdul” based on P.Ramlee’s 1964 movie.
Cikgu Syed, Cikgu Mat and I first run together during Sundown Ultramarathon 100km road race in 2013. We continued this tradition in 2014 and ran together at TNF100 Thailand 100km trail race. This year, we are back together again running TNF100 Australia 100km trail race. I wonder where fate will take us running in 2016?
Sydney City Tour
We arrived in Sydney four days before race day. As it was our first time in Down Under, we decided to do the normal tourist things before heading to Blue Mountains for the race. Plus we plan to do the Mandatory Gears Check at TNF store in Sydney, it’s better to settle this early rather than doing it during race kit collection day.
We bought the overrated Australian standard safety vest at the local hardware store about AUD9, before made our way to TNF Flagship Store at 130 Pitt Street for the mandatory gears check. I passed with flying colors, couldn't say the same with the other fellow. They need to do gears shopping before passing the Mandatory Gears check. Of all the places in the world, we met with Syah the Avatar at the store. Oh hello old friend, nice to see you again.
And here’s the comprehensive list:-
MANDATORY GEAR LIST
| 1. | THERMAL TOP |
| 2. | THERMAL PANT |
| 3. | WATERPROOF JACKET |
| 4. | BEANIE / BUFF |
| 5. | THERMAL GLOVES |
| 6. | SAFETY VEST (AUSTRALIAN STANDARD) |
| 7. | FLEECE TOP |
| 8. | COMPASS |
| 9. | HEADLAMP |
| 10. | BACKUP LIGHT |
| 11. | MOBILE PHONE |
| 12. | WHISTLE |
| 13. | SPACE BLANKET |
| 14. | BANDAGE |
| 15. | DRY SACK |
| 16. | WATER BLADDER / 2 BOTTLES – 2 litres |
| 17. | GELS / BAR X 2 (Food) |
| 18. | ZIPLOC BAG X 1 - RUBBISH |
| 19. | WATERPROOF MAP CASE X 1 |
| 20. | MAP X 1 – WILL BE GIVEN BY ORGANIZER |
| 21. | BOX OF WATERPROOF MATCHES |
| 22. | FIRELIGHTER BLOCK X 1 |
| 23. | WATERPROOF PANT |
23 mandatory items, so much more than UTMF mandatory list. Except for items no. 20-22 (will be given by organizer during race kit collection), you need to show all the gears to the store’s staff before they give you the approval certificate.
Since i planned to do this race since 2013, i had ample time to add gears into my personal collections. Most Salomon's cold weather gears are not brought into Malaysia by WoS, due to low demand by consumers.
I had to buy some of the gears in Japan & Hong Kong such Salomon Goretex Rain Jacket, Salomon Goretex Windproof Gloves, Salomon Waterproof Pant, Salomon Fleece Top etc. It’s not cheap but an investment for my endless trail adventures. All my gears are packable, light and cost a premium. In a long run, my bag will be much more lighter.
Left photo (The Avatar & I), Right photo (Gear Check Certificate).
Trip to Katoomba & Blue Mountains
We left for Katoomba (100km from Sydney) on Thursday’s morning, took the train on the Blue Mountain Line from the Central Station, Sydney. The journey took us about two hours and cost about AUD8.80 one way. It’s a small world, I finally met Itthipol from Thailand, a runner I met in FB at the Central Station. He decided to tag along with us and taking the same train to Katoomba. It was very cold Thursday in Katoomba when we arrived at midday, even for the local - 4 Celsius.
After check-in at our Hostel, we decided to check out Katoomba town for lunch and went straight to Echo Point & Scenic World afterwards. Lucky for us, we found a nice little Indian Restaurant in town – it’s was awesome Briyani lunch. We feast our eyes that afternoon upon the Blue Mountains beautiful sight and view. I felt blessed to be able to travel all over the world to witness god’s beautiful creations. Saw the three sisters and after many photos and selfies were taken, we walked and took our sweet time to the Scenic World.
It was too late for us to take the cable car ride that afternoon, the park was about to closed. We decided to postpone our tourist plan to the next morning.
The Three Sisters, Scenic World Railway Ride, Cable Car Ride and meeting the Polettis (UTMB big boss).
The next morning, we woke up early and after breakfast the four of us (with addition of Renee), made our way to the Scenic World for a full day of tourist activities. I guess our delayed Scenic World activities was meant for something meaningful – the world is small indeed, we met with Catherine & Michel Poletti from the UTMB organisation.
Very humble couple I must say, although these dynamic duo are very well-known faces in the international trail community. They made their time for us and we talked more than 10 minutes about trail running and trail development races in Malaysia & in Europe. When a bunch of passionate people talks about trail running, this friendly chat is always a pleasure. This unexpected meeting must be sign for me, maybe finally I’ll be running UTMB next year? Only time will tell ain’t it.
Race kit pickup and race briefing
Later that evening, we made our way to race briefing and bag drop deposit. I had three bags for CP3, CP4 and CP5.
What did I put into those bags?
Always use drop bags facilities if you don’t have a crew with you. It will make your life easier and your hydration bag much lighter, which translates into less energy/fuel use during the run. I decided to go for bottles option versus bladder, for a faster transition at the CPs.
We were informed at the race kit collection that Waterproof Pant and fleece top can be deposited at CP4. This surely a welcome message by most runners as they can carry less items now in their hydration bag. But based on my experience, more precisely based on my disaster 2014 Leadville experience which I forgot to take headlamp at Twin Lakes aid station (outbound). That error left me with life or death situation on top of Hope Pass, imagine running in dark on top of the mountain with no light. Why did it happened? Because sometimes your brain doesn’t function in the middle of ultra trail run. I decided that this time around, I will carry the waterproof pant and fleece top in my hydration bag right from the start – plus it’s not that heavy anyway (remember light and packable gears!).
On my way walking towards KCC auditorium, I noticed these three familiar runners. I said hi and we comfortably struck a conversation like old friends. These French elite runners are from the WAA team, the guy with the big fluffy hair – Christophe Le Saux, Antoine Guillon and Cyril Cointre. No big egos from these guys, humble bunch of runners. We gone our separate ways after bidding good luck to each other. I had a feeling I’m going to see these guys in another race in the future.
The WAA Team. Cyril Cointre, Christophe Le Saux and Antoine Guillon.
OMG these guys are so small compared to me.
After settling my drop bags business, I entered the auditorium and collected the mandatory matches and firelighter. The bib collection process went smooth as silk, I got my bib number attached with timing chip (RFID), another chip which needed to be attach to my hydration bag and the course map (mandatory to carry). The event t.shirt is at another booth and you can request your suitable size (based on first come first serve), I took XS (American size) which translate to S (Asian size).
My lucky number (557) and Team Malaysia are ready to rock Blue Mountains.
Most of Team Malaysia took the front seats and listen attentively about race briefing and safety briefing by the medical doctor. As always I paid extra attention to safety briefing, at this race the Doctor advised the runners’ against taking too many NSAID pills. As you already put tremendous pressure onto your body by running this ultra-race, the last thing that you need is risking your kidney by taking these pills. I never took these pills since I started running, I didn’t need to. I always found pain is something that I look forward to, pain is telling me that I’m still alive in this world. Plus I found years ago that I have high tolerance of pain – I’m King of Pain so to speak.
Another issue that the Doctor warned us is hypernatremia – over drinking/over hydrate. Based on his experience in the past years, many runners faced this problems. His advice are drink when thirsty, eat when hungry. That's all you need to do. I guess I won’t have that problem since I’m always under hydrate in my races.
Dinner with Team Salomon
After the race briefing, I met with Salomon Australia representative which took me to have dinner with the other Team Salomon (Global Athlete). Thank you Salomon Malaysia for arranging this meeting. Finally I could meet the other Salomon Athletes that I’ve seen so much in the social media. That night for the first time I met last year UTWT Champion – Francois D’Haene from France and two rising trail running superstars from China; Dong Li and Yan Long-Fei.
Dinner was great, we had fish, vegetarian pasta and bread.
Cikgu Ling was the most fortunate that night, the car that took us for dinner had extra space. He was smilingly and happily followed us to dinner. As we arrived at the rental house, the Chef was finishing prepping the dinner. Unfortunately, both the Chinese runners could not speak English. I ended up talking to Francois most of the time – again a humble world champion, very nice guy. He told me his focus for this year is Western States and he was carrying an injury racing TNF Australia, maybe if it turn bad on race day, he might not even finish.
Team Salomon minus Dong Li (went straight to sleep after dinner)
After dinner, we excused ourselves to prep (mentally) for the race next morning and finally rest our feet for the day. I bid good luck to both Francois and Yan Long-Fei for tomorrow race (Dong Li gone to sleep) before leaving the rented house with a memories that will last me lifetime. I think once arrived at the Hostel, I was the first one to fall asleep. I doze off quickly after hitting the pillow for that mandatory sleep, it’s a big day tomorrow.
TBC – Part 3 (Race Day).
